Two individuals and one company that are the first to be sued by Lafayette Consolidated Government for not paying their red light camera and speed van fines together owe more than $6,400.

Lawsuits were filed against Caleb Joseph Funke, Arthur Barry III and McNabb Rehabilitation Services Inc. because they have not paid citations they received through the city's SafeLight/SafeSpeed program.

According to the small claims division of Lafayette City Court, Funke is being sued for $2,475, Barry for $2,212 and McNabb Rehabilitation Services for $1,717.

Those three are the top violators who will be sued in Lafayette City Court's small claims court, which handles claims for up to $5,000, Hebert said. Violators who owe between $5,001 and $20,000 will be sued in regular City Court, he said.

Dixie Cab company will be sued in district court because the company owes $46,000 in unpaid citations, Hebert said.

The three small claims court lawsuits were filed in the past week, but the lawsuits were put on hold Tuesday night and no others will be filed to recover uncollected fines at this time.

The City-Parish Council on Tuesday temporarily halted the lawsuits after Hebert said his research indicated the statute of limitations on fines like this was 10 years. The council initially thought the statute of limitations was three years. As such, violators were under the impression that fines incurred more than three years ago would not and could not be pursued in court.

Hebert said Friday that the council wants him to draft one or more amendments to clarify the ordinance authorizing the lawsuits. The amendments would clarify how far back Lafayette Consolidated Government will go to recover unpaid violations.

The trigger that qualifies someone for being sued is that they accrued at least $125 in unpaid violations in the last three years, Hebert said.

"The question is, once the trigger is pulled, how far back do we go to collect?" he said.

Some on the council believe LCG should go back 10 years, as the law allows — which is longer than the program has been in place — while others think it should be three years, Hebert said.